He had knocked down a color bearer in the enemy’s line with the staff of the Massachusetts State colors, seized the falling flag and dashed it to me.”Ĭolor guards used to be serious business, guys.ĭeCastro then went right back into the fighting at Gettysburg, again taking up his position as regimental flag bearer in the fighting. “At the instant a man broke through my lines and thrust a rebel battle flag into my hands. DeCastro used the staff of his regimental flag, knocked out the opposing flag bearer, stole the 19th Virginia’s flag, and then left the battlefield to present it to Gen. DeCastro’s position, the two unarmed flag bearers began to go at it like everyone else in the melee around them. So when Pickett’s Charge slammed right into the Union lines near Cpl. (Wikipedia)īut the flag bearer for the 19th Virginia infantry didn’t know that. Note: An engraving of Pickett’s charge at Gettysburg by Alfred Swinton after Alfred Waud. General Pickett’s famous charge at Gettysburg. DeCastro was so brave: He spent the entire Civil War as a bright-colored, slow-moving artillery target. If the colors broke and ran for safety, the rest of the entire unit might instinctively follow. Walking the battlefields unarmed, the color bearers could never run away from the fighting and always had to be in front towards the enemy. When they couldn’t hear commands over the din of the fighting, they would still be able to see their colors.įor the flag bearers, the job was an incredibly important honor. In practical use, the flags told the men attached to those units where they were on the battlefield. They would give their lives to protect their regimental flag, and there were few humiliations worse than losing the unit colors to an enemy. Troops put a lot of faith on their flag and the man who held it. (Public domain)ĭeCastro was the flag bearer for the 19th Massachusetts Infantry, a job that was arguably one of the most important in any unit. Sergeant Alex Rogers with Battle Flag, Eighty-third Pennsylvania Volunteers, Third Brigade, First Division, Fifth Corps, Army of the Potomac.